A room full of reporters gathered around Kendal Briles in Florida State’s Moore Athletics Center on Sunday, the scrum making it obvious who the biggest offseason story surrounding the program is.

As the new offensive coordinator, Briles has been tasked with
resurrecting a Seminole offense that ranked near the bottom of the nation in
many categories a year ago. As Briles spoke, the message became clear. Familiarity
and consistency were the foremost objectives of his first few months as the
signal-caller in Tallahassee.

Which is why the hire of new offensive line coach Randy
Clements, was so important to Briles when agreeing to sign with FSU.

The two have worked together for years since their days at
Baylor, revolutionizing the way college football views offensive philosophy.
Briles has known Clements far longer than even their work history, back when
Kendal played for his father, Art, at Stephenville High in Texas, where Randy
was on staff. Later Briles would transfer to Houston in his collegiate playing
career, where Clements was the Cougars’ offensive line coach from 2003-07.

“I always enjoy working with Kendal because he’s one of my
great friends and his family, they’re like family to me,” Clements said at FSU’s
Media Day. “We’ve grown up (together), almost 30 years ago. That’s just been a
blessing for me in my life.”

Synergy between the two and patching an offensive line were
part of the reason Willie Taggart opted to hire the duo that was, in every
sense, a package deal. The tempo in which Briles wants to operate requires a
precision that takes instinctual ability. The two have synched over the years
in many way as it relates on and off the field.

“It makes everything easier obviously. We worked together for
so long, we know what each other wants, thinks, that type of thing,” Clements
said. “We both expect the same thing, we want the same thing.”

“It’s a huge deal, just understanding what we do with our
offense and the RPOs (Run-Pass Option),” Briles agreed. “You’re talking about
running and throwing altogether. Having a guy who knows exactly where we’re
going with the football and what should happen on the play, it’s tremendous.”

The expectation for Briles is to revamp the Seminoles’
offense overnight. Fair or not, Briles understands the responsibility of
coaching at a program like FSU, where results are demanded immediately. The
relationship with Clements should bridge the learning curve at a rapid pace
before the 2019 season starts.

“I think it’s important to have that relationship in any
offense whether you’ve been with a guy that long or not. Everybody has got to
be on the same page,” Clements said.

“Our offensive staff is awesome. Everybody is just willing
and eager to do their part. Whatever it takes for us to be successful. The fact
that me and Kendal have been together that long, all it does really is speed
things up.”

The Seminoles hope the shear pace in which they run their
plays will be punishing to opposing defenses attempting to line up against a
talented core of skill-players at FSU’s disposal.

“When you’re going at a really fast pace, there’s a lot of
things that need to happen from processing the information coming out and
reacting to it,” Briles said of early observations in practice.

“I’ve been really pleased with the guys.”

Clements’ offensive
line has received a ton of praise this offseason for the work they’ve put in
improving their technique, their bodies and their confidence. With tempo, all
three areas will be put to the test. The Seminoles’ coaching staff has spent a
lot of time working with this group to get them ready for the upcoming
campaign.

“Our O-line, the last three practices, we’ve done a great
job of allotting more time to coach them within that tempo,” Briles said.
“Coach Clements knows exactly what we want up front. Those guys are the ones
who have to get up and get set the quickest. When you’re 340 pounds, it can be
difficult, so we’re working on that, but I really like where we are at right
now.”

Improvement is the biggest priority for the staff with the
blocking unit. They understand it will take some time to get cohesion and
experience for this group. The goal is for tempo to help mask some deficiencies
early in the growth process and allow the Seminoles to take advantage of
strengths.

“You can hide some weaknesses with tempo. If we can go
sideline to sideline and get the defense to chase, then you don’t let those
defensive studs get set and get off the line as fast,” Briles said.

“We can create some creases, cover some things up and let
our guys do the rest. Defenses go really hard and they tend to tire themselves
out, that’s something I’ve learned over the years and we’re getting better at
taking advantage of it.

Florida State conducted its first scrimmage on Saturday,
allowing the staff to see the early returns on progress the offense has put
forth this fall.

“We protected the football well, and from an assignment
standpoint I thought we blocked pretty well. We ran the ball effectively,”
Briles said.

“One thing we need to be better at is playing cleaner and sustaining drives. Our defense has been playing really soft (coverage) and has made us earn every yard. When a defense does that, you have to play clean on offense.”